Always by your side!
by MidnightHime
Summary: Love it's a powerful thing, it' brings us happiness but it also brings sadness... (Oneshot) I hope you like it, Ja ne minna-san ;)


**_\- Note -_**

 ** _I do not own Naruto or its characters, unfortunately :( but I do own my story's so I hope you all like it :) ja ne minna-san._**

 _"Memories"_

 _'thoughts'_

' _ **Sakura talking to Sasuke'**_

 ** _\- END of the Note -_**

* * *

 **Always by your side!**

* * *

The twenty-ninth of September was, to Sasuke Uchiha, far sunnier and brighter than he would've preferred. When he went to sleep last night, he imagined waking up to a dark, stormy and tumultuous day that would reflect his mood. Yet, God wasn't so kind as to grant the Uchiha his meager wish.

"Ugh," muttered the Uchiha as he stood at the stove, preparing a lavish breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon. It was now seven thirty and he did not want to wake Ryusuke just yet. The household was already set up just the way he wanted it for his birthday, an area for the children to play out the back with their parents' supervision, with tables positioned here and there on the greenery. Believe it or not, Sasuke had already prepared all the food for the party, most of which was finger food the kids would enjoy. You know, the likes of fairy bread and mini pastries. As for the cake, he had it made at a store, and it sat on the top level of the fridge shelves as we speak.

Half an hour passed and it was now eight o'clock, and the young Uchiha had set out his creation on the table. A tall stack of soft, light pancakes drizzled with golden maple syrup and just a handful of blueberries on top, eggs cooked sunny side up, and strips of bacon sizzled to perfection, complimented by a large jug of apple juice. Apple, not orange. Sasuke remembered that Ryusuke preferred apple juice.

He was indeed a sight for sore eyes, for who knew that you would ever see the Uchiha up so early in the morning just to make breakfast for another? Plus, him in an apron just...

Sasuke's gaze slid towards the flight of stairs leading up to the second floor on his left, and slowly strode over to go and wake up Ryusuke.

One step. Another. Another. An -

"TOU-CHAN!"

Sasuke yelped and was nearly bowled over as his five year old son threw himself down the stairs onto his father, grinning widely and obviously fresh out of bed. His father shook it off with a laugh, and swept his son into his arms for a tight embrace.

"Happy birthday, Ryusuke,"said the proud father, lifting the younger Uchiha into his arms and carrying him back to the kitchen. Ryusuke wrapped his arms around his father's neck, beaming brightly.

"I'm a big boy now, tou-chan!" he squealed as his father gently placed him in the head seat of the kitchen table. Sasuke smiled sadly, as his son's green eyes reflected that of his mother's. Patting Ryusuke on the head, Sasuke replied with a "you sure are, buddy."

Ryusuke Uchiha was the only son of Sasuke Uchiha and his beloved, Sakura Haruno. He was, as most people would point out, an almost exact replica of his father, but in chibi form. The only differentiation between the two were their eye colours: Sasuke's were a deep, dark onyx, while Ryusuke had inherited his mother's warm, soft green eyes. While he was a picture perfect clone of his father in appearance, Ryusuke's personality mirrored that of his mother. Because of this, Sasuke had ditched his earlier cold and demeaning personality to single handedly raise their son, the product of their love for each other. He'd promised to be a good father, a firm, but loving one. Ryusuke was the only bit of Sakura he had left, he wasn't about to let her labor go to waste.

She doesn't want you to be sad on your son's birthday, thought the Uchiha with a scowl as Ryusuke dug into his breakfast banquet. Come on, Sasuke. He's five today. At least be a little happy.

"Tch! Cabbwe biset k ch fobay?" Sasuke was jolted out of his thoughts by Ryusuke, who attempted to talk with his mouth full. The father laughed and eased himself into the chair beside Ryusuke, shaking his head.

"Sorry, Ryusuke, but I don't speak mumble." laughed Sasuke, reaching across the table and ruffling his son's dark hair. Ryusuke snorted and finished gulping down his food before speaking again.

"I meant, tou chan, can we go and visit kaa-chan today? Pleaseeeee?" begged the younger Uchiha, clasping his hands together and pouting at his father. It was as if a hand had clenched itself around Sasuke's heart and ripped it right out of his chest, while it was still beating. He gave Ryusuke a weak smile.

"Of course. We'll go see her before your friends come over, okay?" Ryusuke nodded vigourously before diving back into his breakfast, while his father watched him from across the table. _'It's already been five years.'_ He thought as he look at his son.

* * *

"HEY, TE… OUCH!" Before a certain Uzumaki could burst into the Uchiha household, the progenitor of the clan stood with his arm outstretched in a clothesline, catching his bouncing blonde friend before he could finish his sentence. He snaked his arm around his neck and placed him into a headlock, grinning threateningly.

"Not in front of my son, baka," he said, indicating the couch on which Ryusuke was sitting on. Said boy squealed and leapt to his feet, sprinting towards the pair.

"JI-CHAN!" Naruto laughed as Ryusuke slammed into him, patting the top of his head.

"Hiya sprout! Happy birthday!" he beamed, reaching down to hug Ryusuke with one arm. The little Uchiha caught sight of the gift bag in his uncle's hand, and squealed even more.

"Is that for me, ji-chan?!" he said, jumping up and down on the balls of his feet. Naruto chuckled and straightened up, nodding. "You bet" he said with a wink. "Hey, duck butt, where do I put the present? Hinata and Kushina will be here when the party starts."

Sasuke jabbed a finger over his shoulder at a table pushed against the wall. "Over there," he said lazily.

"Ryusuke and I are just going to pop out for a bit before everyone gets here."

"Oi teme, it looks like you've bought him everything already!" The use of the curse word in front of Ryusuke earned Naruto a thump on the head from his raven haired friend, who winced in pain as he caught sight of the pile of gifts already on Ryusuke's gift table. Sasuke really had spared no expense.

"Then can I come with you?!" asked the Uzumaki, placing his gift on the table.

"Tou-chan and I are going to visit kaa-chan!" exclaimed Ryusuke, who was now clinging onto his father's waist. "You can come with us, ji-chan! Right, tou-chan?!"

Naruto's eyes widened in realization, and he glanced over at Sasuke. "Oh. Well, Ryusuke, you and dad can go along, right? I'll stay here and... House sit." he finished mawkishly, scratching the back of his neck.

Sasuke face palmed, and Ryusuke looked up at his father. "Let's just go now, Ryusuke. We want to be here when the party starts, right?"

* * *

*** On the car ***

Who knew driving along the streets of Konoha would be such a painful ordeal for him.

With every landmark they passed, every shop and park, Sasuke felt a jab at his heart as ghosts of memories flooded into his mind, reminding him of Sakura. Ryusuke was talking, but he didn't know his father wasn't listening. Sasuke glanced out the window every now and again.

There, the park where he had first asked her out. _"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SASUKE!"_ Sakura Haruno cried as she clung onto the Uchiha. He grinned as he remembered the way Sakura had turned into a blubbering mess and tried to suffocate him with hugs.

"... right, tou-chan?! Do you think mummy will like these?" Sasuke nodded and looked in the rear view mirror to make it seem as if he knew what Ryusuke was on about.

"Right you are" he said, before letting his eyes wander out the window once more. The dango shop where she had made Sasuke buy her bag loads of it because she fell in love with the taste of dango.

 _"Sakura, are you serious?! You can't eat all by yourself!"_

 _"I won't! It's for you and me!"_

 _"You know I don't like sweet things." Sakura replied with a cheeky grin as she thrust the bag of dango onto the counter._

 _"Well then, more for me, right?"_

The fondness of this memory made Sasuke's heart break even more, and now, he was dreading what would happen when he and Ryusuke reached their destination.

"Tou-chan! I was born there, right?!" Sasuke looked yet again out of his window, and saw what Ryusuke was talking about.

Konoha Hospital.

 _"SAKURA! I'M HERE, SAKURA, I'M HERE!"_

 _Sasuke burst into the theatre, enraged at how useless the staff were. He stopped short in his tracks when he caught sight of his one and only sitting in bed, weak, and damp with sweat as she held a precious package in her arms. On catching sight of her husband, Sakura smiled weakly at him, looking as if she was half asleep._

 _"Ryu...suke..." she whispered softly, smiling as Sasuke came closer. She held out their son to him, and lay back in bed, sighing._

 _Sasuke didn't even look at his son. Instead, his tear brimmed eyes were focused on his wife._

 _"Sakura, please," he begged softly. "Please, you can do it..."_

 _Sakura shook her head sadly. "Promise me you'll take care of Ryusuke, Sasuke. Don't you dare let my two days of labor go to waste," she added with a small chuckle. Sasuke looked away from her, his tears spilling onto his cheeks._

 _"Please, Sasuke. Look after him."_

 _She closed her eyes, sighing in relaxation. Her time had come, and she had learnt from many others before her to always, always, always remember to greet death with a smile._

 _"I love you, Sasuke. Remember that. I always will, and I'll always be with you."_

* * *

Passing the areas dedicated to young children, and the elderly, the Uchiha car came to a halt.

"We're here." Sakura Haruno's place of burial was easily spotted, right at the back of the plot of land, she lay under a mausoleum that housed her body, made of gleaming white marble with an angel of death carrying a sword guarding her final resting place. It was surrounded by a small fence with a little opening in the front, singling it out from the rest of the area.

After getting Ryusuke out of the car, Sasuke took care not to walk over any of the other graves as he carried his son across.

"Where did you get those from?" asked Sasuke with a blank look after setting Ryusuke down in front of his mother's mausoleum. Ryusuke grinned, and held out a crimson rose from the bouquet he held to his father. Confused, Sasuke gingerly took it from him.

"Ji-chan!" he beamed, grabbing his father's hand. "I was talking about them in the car, remember? Silly tou-chan!"

 _'I was so busy thinking I didn't notice'_ grimaced Sasuke to himself. Pulling a set of keys from his pocket, Sasuke took the biggest one and unlocked the front door of the mausoleum. The lock creaked as he carefully slid it from the door and placed it on the ground.

"Ready to see mummy, Ryusuke?" With his breath held, Sasuke pushed the door open.

It was small and cozy, with just enough room for four people to fit in without any squashing up. Switching on a light, the room was illuminated with its dim light as Sasuke navigated his way in with Ryusuke by his side. In the center of the room, a marble sarcophagus rose out from the ground, with Sakura's framed picture still sitting in the same spot he had placed there five years ago.

Seeing her face again broke Sasuke's heart, and he could not describe how much anguish and pain he felt at that moment. Clenching his hands into fists, Sasuke kept his eyes fixed on the portrait of Sakura, forcing the tears back. Ryusuke seemed to have noticed a change in his father's demeanor, because his usual chatter slowly faded out.

Sasuke stumbled over to the marble sarcophagus, and slammed his palms down before the picture frame.

 _'That smile...'_ He couldn't help it any more. It had been five, long years, and every day, he woke up missing her just as much as he did on the first night.

He missed her. He missed everything about her. He missed her smile, her warmth, the softness of her skin against his, the silkiness of her hair between his fingers. He missed her laugh, the way she would snort when she burst into uncontrollable fits… heck, he even missed her terrible cooking, which always made him laugh at her meager attempts. He missed her cheerfulness, her recklessness, he missed her in his arms, and he missed falling asleep with her by his side. He wished that he could wake up with amnesia, so that he wouldn't have to go through the pain of remembering everything they'd done, and regretting everything they should've done.

By now, Sasuke was hunched over the sarcophagus, uncontrollably sobbing as Ryusuke stood from behind, watching sadly. He placed his bouquet of roses beside his father and slowly backed out. So ridden with grief was he, Sasuke didn't pay any attention to what his son was doing.

"Ryusuke?" As the young Uchiha boy stepped out of the mausoleum, he was greeted by a kind looking woman with long pink hair and the same eyes as his. He gasped, and stared up at the woman with awe.

"KAA-CHAN!"

She laughed as she bent down to hug the boy, holding him tight in her embrace. "You've grown so much," she whispered tearfully, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"Kaa-chan, I need your help!" announced the Uchiha child boldly, earning him a smile from his mother.

"Why, I had a feeling you would," she smiled, straightening up and holding Ryusuke at arm's length.

Back in the mausoleum, Sasuke still cried over Sakura's death, but this time, he became more attentive to his whereabouts and situation.

"Ryusuke?" He looked around, but Ryusuke was gone. His bouquet of flowers was there, but he wasn't. Sasuke leapt for the door, beginning to panic.

 _'WHY DIDN'T I PAY MORE ATTENTION?! GOD DAMNIT SASUKE IF YOU'VE FUCKED THIS UP YOU'RE SCREWED-'_ his thoughts here cut out by his son calling for him.

"Tou-chan!"

Sasuke half screamed at the voice of his son, clutching his chest. He turned around to see Ryusuke sitting beside the door of the mausoleum, leaning against the wall. His father slapped a hand to his forehead in anguish.

"Ryusuke, you gave me a heart attack!" he exclaimed, striding forward. "Don't do that again! Especially in this place!" He didn't like to admit it, but cemeteries gave him the creeps, regardless of whether or not people he knew were in it. Ryusuke merely grinned and got to his feet, one hand hiding something behind his back. Sasuke noticed, and raised an eyebrow.

"And that is...?" Ryusuke's grin upgraded to a beam, and he threw his hand out. In it, he clutched a snowy white teddy bear, holding a bright red love heart in its paws.

"Kaa-chan gave this to me for my birthday! And she asked me to give this to you!" Sasuke's eyes widened as Ryusuke held out a charm bracelet.

He reached forward and snatched both the items from his son's hands, frantic. Ryusuke yelped and stepped back as his father rounded on him, nostrils flaring.

"Where did you get these from?!" he exclaimed, pushing Ryusuke against the wall of the mausoleum. Ryusuke whimpered, and shriveled away from his father.

' _ **DON'T YELL AT HIM LIKE THAT, BAKA!'**_

"Ouch!" Sasuke spun around as the feeling of someone slapping the back of his head hit him. No one was there.

"K..kaa-chan... asked me to give it to you..." said the little Uchiha cautiously. "She told me she knew you were sad... and she wanted you to have the bracelet..."

Sasuke glanced down at the bracelet and teddy bear in his hands. He remembered burying these with Sakura, he remembered placing the bracelet on her wrist, and putting the teddy bear beside her head. That was five years ago. These couldn't be the same things. Yet, as he stared at the charm bracelet, he accurately recalled every charm on there. A dove, for peace. A key, for his heart. A heart, to remind her how much he loved her. A cage, for her troubles. A music note, to lift her up when she was feeling blue. And the Uchiha family crest, to signify her role as a member of the Uchiha family.

Ryusuke got to his feet and reached for his father's hand. "She said 'your daddy's sad, and that makes me sad. I want him to be happy, just like you, Ryusuke. So can you promise me that you'll make him happy?' And I told her I would. So, please, tou chan. Please be happy," begged Ryusuke as a spell of silence overcame his father.

"Sakura..." murmured the Uchiha as his puffy red eyes soaked in the view of her charm bracelet. He dropped to the ground, sitting down. Ryusuke followed suit, and soon, there was just silence.

"You really miss her, don't you, tou chan?" asked Ryusuke sadly, snuggling into his father's arm. Sasuke nodded.

"A lot." Sasuke sighed, and looked up as he felt the burning sensation of tears begin to roll down his cheeks.

The funny thing was, Sasuke no longer felt as if he were empty or missing something. The re appearance of these objects had given him fresh hope, that maybe, just maybe, Sakura was still with him.

' _ **Of course I'm still with you, dummy. I always have been.'**_

Sasuke laughed as he imagined Sakura's voice in his head. Was it actually his imagination or was it actually Sakura?

"Here," he mumbled, handing her teddy bear to Ryusuke. "It's yours now." Without hesitation, he slipped her charm bracelet onto his wrist with ease, tracing every individual charm with his finger.

"She still loves you, tou-chan," said Ryusuke softly. "She told me so herself." Sasuke shook his head with a smile, and pulled his son closer to him into an embrace.

"She loves you too, Ryusuke. After all, you are your mother's son."

* * *

 _I wish that I could wake up with amnesia,_

 _And forget about the stupid little things._

 _Like the way it felt to fall asleep next to you,_

 _And the memories I never can escape._


End file.
